The 3^rd International Symposium of Integrative Zoology was held at the Olympic Village Science Park in Beijing from 8 – 10 July 2009 under the auspices of the International Society of Zoological Sciences (ISZS); International Union of Biological Science (IUBS); and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In addition, the symposium was supported by the China Zoological Society; Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Association for Science and Technology.

The symposium was a formal event under the IUBS Darwin 200 Program to celebrate the life and work of Charles Darwin, who was born on 12 February 1809. Darwin 200symposia are also being held in Christchurch, New Zealand; Venice, Italy; Maldonado, Uruguay; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Cape Town, Republic of South Africa.

Over 130 researchers from 22 countries attended the symposium. Those included Dr Jean-Marc Jallon (President, ISZS and Vice President, IUBS), Dr Motonori Hoshi (Past-President, IUBS), Dr Jeffrey McNeely (Chief Scientist, International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Dr Abraham Haim (Vice President, ISZS).

High-level Chinese officials that attended the opening ceremony include Chen Yiyu (President, National Natural Science Foundation of China), Li Jiayang (Vice President, Chinese Academy of Science), and Fu Congbin(Vice President, China Association of Science and Technology).

Representatives from the Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection, State Bureau of Forestry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, China Association of Science and Technology and the Costa Rican and US Embassies in Beijing were also present during meeting.

There were 4 sessions divided as following topics: Biological consequences of climate change; Marine organisms and amphibians; Species conservation & biodiversity; Infectious diseases. Every session was hosted by two well-know experts. The presentations can be either researches on specific species in the countries or regions of speakers, or innovative researches on some common creations. A Training course named “Integrative Biology & Management System Studies” was open to all students and researchers.

Recently, the ISZS initiated a research program titled Biological Consequences of Global Change to enhance our understanding of the impacts of climate change on animals and their environments. As a result, the theme of the Symposium was Biological Consequences of Global Change. There was a plenarysession about ISZS International Research Program Workshop on Biological Consequences of Global Climate Change, which was open to all the attendees at the symposium.